Can anybody beat this for old equipment

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Many moons ago there used to be a poster on here by the name of Scrit. He was a mine of information on old machinery. Just had a look and his postings are still here but he stopped posting in 2008.
 
Lons, I don’t know how old you are, but I can remember – just- the dentists drill ( no let’s not go there, please! ) being powered by belts that were like a tiny version of a shower hose, and similar to the drive belt on a mammod steam engine, shiny, spiral wound and it went round twin pulleys, your drill reminds me of that sort of set up. It must’ve had a motor with two pullies mounted somewhere behind it. Ian
71 Ian so old enough but I don't remember those possibly because I used to shut my eyes. That was before I got a rather attractive young lady dentist then I didn't mind gazing into her eyes. ;)

The motor on that drill was apparently usually fitted behind at the base and a round section belt looped over the outboard pulleys and around the stepped one. The pictures I've seen show belt adjustment as a clamp down on a bat while this has a thumbscrew adjustment which is why I wondered if it had been modified. Must do some research.
 
I’ve had this pillar drill for a while. I think it’s a Metabo and is stamped 445/1
 

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I can't compete with the ancient ironmongery, but I can give you a completely gratuitous photo of my local timber yard's bandsaw. Just about every wood shop has something like this around here - I am especially impressed with the dust extraction. No idea of the age or make - it is probably Italian, but could be from anywhere.


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Wonderful old bit of kit, I imagine originally it had a front cover at the bottom and something over that drive belt, it would be so easy for a bit of wood to get in there and throw it off the pulleys, probably does regularly.
Dust extraction?lol.
 
The safety cover is that bit of wood you didn't recognise off to the right. I'm guessing the sawdust built up enough to force someone to get in and muck out the belts - probably a weekly chore. The cover the other side is a skanky bit of OSB, I think, jammed up against the table. Perfectly safe.
 
When I was a nipper and had a pet hamster, I clearly remember walking down to the nearest timber merchant. They saw no problem at all in letting a 7 year old child get down under the circular saw to shovel up a shopping bag's worth of sawdust... Mind you, they did turn the saw off first - it was the 1960s not the 1860s... ;)
 
Thanks Andy, they are both stunning, just the fact that they went to such a huge amount of trouble to carve the moulds for that saw, I suppose it’s like the decoration on Victorian buildings, wasn’t necessary but they could so they did. Quite wonderful.
 
I'd suggest it's a year or two older than that. 2000 is a bit recent... ;)

But seriously, here's mine.

View attachment 94555View attachment 94556

It's a Carron "Colonial". It's difficult to find dating information, but I believe it would date somewhere around the other turn of the century - give or take 20 years.

And it came with a full set of chisels.

View attachment 94557

Cheers, Vann.
Hi Vann, just read this post, I too have a similar machine - a Wilson No 2 - of around that age, though it has 1902 cast into the weight. I did post a thing earlier, a request for information on it. Your machine seems to have the same idea for mounting the chisels in the carriage, my question and one I've been trying to solve for a long time is how do you get the chisels out? Is there a drift or 'tuning fork' style of tool to remove them? Currently I tap on the curved part of the chisel with a hide mallet.
Tim
 
...one I've been trying to solve for a long time is how do you get the chisels out? Is there a drift or 'tuning fork' style of tool to remove them? Currently I tap on the curved part of the chisel with a hide mallet.
My solid chisel mortiser is still awaiting some restoration (the x, y and z movements are very stiff) so I've only put a chisel in and removed it a few times. I was told to put a spanner across the flats at the top of the chisel (immediately below the taper) and rotate/twist. That's worked for the few times I've tried.

HTH.

Cheers, Vann.
 
Had a trip down memory lane last weekend when I got to use this old beauty

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It was my planer for over 20 years until I ungraded then 6 years ago I gave it to a mate & last Saturday I went to help him so got to use it again, still a good piece of kit.
 
Had a trip down memory lane last weekend when I got to use this old beauty...
It's only a pup, Doug ;).

It's a Wadkin-Bursgreen and they didn't come into existence until ~1956 - so it's not even 70 years old.

It looks similar to a mate's Wadkin RZ - and that's a very nice machine.

Cheers, Vann.
 
Nothing to do with woodworking, but this is my watchmaking balance tool. Mainly used for truing up wobbly balance wheels in watches. The staff or axle of the wheel is spun between the ends, and the guide plate used to check the rim runs true. Similar to the stands for truing bike wheels, but on a rather smaller scale !
Dates from around 1870.
 

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